Dean's office records
RU 4.1.2

 M'Ledge Moffett Collection

Summary Information

Repository
McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections
Title
M'Ledge Moffett Collection: Dean's office records
ID
RU 4.1.2
Date [inclusive]
1913-1978
Extent
5.0 Linear feet
Physical Description
The collection contains various hand-written and typed documents from approximately 1913-1978. In addition, there are financial records, appointment books, and notebooks. The documents include assorted items such as telegrams, letters, hand-written notes, and official documents that correspond to their respective group or organization. The financial records vary from ledger books to bank statements, receipts, checkbooks, canceled checks, and documents recording inventories of items purchased. The notebooks and appointment books vary in size and in category. Some are large and record several years’ worth of material, while others are small and merely contain information for a single year. Several notebooks and ledgers contain accompanying documents. The collection additionally consists of items such as program guides, a songbook, newspaper clippings, and brochures. Box 1 and Box 2 of this collection deal primarily with general maintenance of the college. More specifically, these boxes contain financial records for the cafeteria and tea room, listing an inventory of food costs and other expenditures. Also, there are several notebooks from the Bureau of Information at the college that list visitors and their purpose for going to the President’s Office, Dr. Moffett’s office, and others. There are documents, in addition, dealing with various staff members and staff positions at the university. These boxes contain items primarily from the 1920’s and 1930’s. Boxes 3-5 contain information pertaining to several different student organizations. There are many documents from sororities and fraternities on campus, such as Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Tau Pi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, and Phi Alpha Theta. The Pi Gamma Mu folders, in particular, contain financial information such as bank records, canceled checks, and a treasurer’s notebook. The other groups’ folders contain official documents, letters, and a Sigma Sigma Sigma song book. The folders on Phi Alpha Theta and Alpha Tau Pi also contain documents dealing with the opening of their chapters at Radford University. In addition, clubs and organizations mentioned in boxes 3-5 are the Home Economics Club, Ingles Literary Society, Radford Chapter of American Federation of Art Club, Choral Club, Commercial Club, Debate Council, and others – all of which have various miscellaneous handwritten and typed documents. The Student Government Association has several documents within the collection including handwritten notes and official documents, most of which originated from the 1970’s. In addition, the Executive Council, which was a branch of the Student Government Association that saw to disciplinary hearings has a notebook of several of these hearings from the 1920’s that contained several hand-written documents dealing with the girls charged with breaking the rules. There are also documents pertaining to the Student Organization Committee from the 1920’s and the 1970’s. Boxes 6-8, the M’Ledge Moffett notebooks, are primarily day planners that Dr. Moffett wrote the occurrences of her day in with diary-like entries, most of which have to do with student teachers at high schools. The folders labeled “appointment book” list merely her schedule, or a particular event for a specific day, and do not contain such diary-like entries. All of the notebooks had within them several handwritten, and few typed, documents ranging from informal notes to an official document from the Department of Agriculture in 1944 pertaining to the World War II “Liberty Gardens.” The notebooks run from 1940-1954. There are several weeks in each book in which Dr. Moffett wrote no entries.
Location
Locked in compact shelving, level 1, shelf 19E.
Language
English
Abstract
Dr. M’Ledge Moffett joined the Radford State Teacher’s College in 1913, the year of its initial opening. Beginning as the only member of the Household Arts Department, she quickly made her mark upon Radford, soon after being selected by President McConnell to be in charge of the college’s dormitory – from this, there are many papers in the collection relating to day-to-day maintenance of the residence hall. Additionally, she was appointed as the college’s first Dean of Women in 1920, a post she held until her retirement in 1962. Dr. Moffett had a hand in the initial creation of many of the student organizations listed in this collected. She, in fact, assisted in the beginning of the first two student organizations on campus: the Ingles and Pocahontas Literary Societies. There are several letters and other documents of interest collected by Dr. Moffett within the collection pertaining specifically to the Ingles Literary Society, which outlived the Pocahontas group. The Student Government Association was another student-run organization that she helped initially organize in 1914, along with the Grapurchat in 1921, which was the student newspaper. The Executive Council was a branch of the SGA. It was a disciplinary committee that kept extensive records, collected by Dr. Moffett’s office, of the disciplinary hearings of the 1920’s. In 1922 the Blue Gate Tea room was opened as a spur of the moment method of having enough dining space for visitors that flourished into a new area of interest on campus. It was a former storage closet attached to the school’s gymnasium, ran primarily by the Home Economics Department, in which M’Ledge Moffett kept tedious records until 1927 when it became student-run. In addition to these groups, Dr. Moffett was involved with several other organizations and committees, leaving behind records that can be found in this collection.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Dean's office records, M'Ledge Moffet Collection, Radford University Archives, McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA.

Return to Table of Contents »

Biographical Data

M'Ledge Moffett was born in 1892, the only child of William Ledgerwood Moffett and Mary Stoops Moffett. The name M'Ledge was formed from shortened versions of her parents names, Mary and Ledgerwood. M'Ledge seems to have inherited little else from her father beyond using a shortened version of his middle name as the second syllable of the name by which she was generally known. However, her mother, Mary S. Moffett, was very influential in M'Ledge's life by virtue of raising M'Ledge in a school environment. Prior to M'Ledge's birth, Mary Moffett taught at a school in Riverside, Ohio. Due to William's ill health, the Moffetts moved to Virginia in 1893 where during M'Ledge's early and adolescent years, Mary Moffett taught at the Midway School, and at the Ruffner School in Manassas, Virginia. Mary Moffett served as school principal at the Manassas Institute where her daughter was a student. She was a pioneer in home economics education and was credited for recognizing that home economics was worthy of consideration at a professional state meeting.

M'Ledge followed in her mother's path, attending the newly-opened State Normal School in Harrisonburg, Virginia (now James Madison University), graduating in 1910 with a Full Degree in Household Arts. Harrisonburg was the first school to offer such a degree in Virginia and Moffett was one of the first two graduates. From Harrisonburg, Moffett went to Columbia University's Teachers College in New York City. While working towards her Bachelor of Science degree in 1913 from Columbia, M'Ledge spent her summers as a Household Arts instructor at a Summer Normal School in Covington, Virginia.

Around this time that M'Ledge was at Harrisonburg Normal School and then at Columbia University, the Virginia Legislature established the "State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford" and John Preston McConnell, a professor/dean at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia, was appointed as president of the new school. One of his first tasks was the appointment of a faculty. There are no records available to document how McConnell recruited instructors to staff the normal school but it seems reasonable to assume the following in Moffett's case:

McConnell, a native Virginian, like Moffett had grown up in a family that emphasized education. As a Dean at Emory and Henry and someone who was deeply interested in the education of women, McConnell was probably familiar with the work of Mary Stoops Moffett. And he was probably cognizant of the fact that M'Ledge Moffett was eminently qualified to serve as the school's sole instructor in Household Arts. One wonders if the younger Moffett applied for the job or McConnell heard of her from her mother or from Julian Burruss, president of the Harrisonburg Normal School during the time when M'Ledge was a student. Unfortunately, there is no record of the first meeting/interview between McConnell and Moffett. In any event, Moffett's name was on the list of instructors approved by the school's Board of Trustees in June, 1913.

Moffett arrived in Radford on September 11, 1913, as the youngest faculty member and the only member of the Household Arts Department, a month after the school's formal dedication in August, 1913, and only a few days before classes began. She apparently quickly proved her ability to handle herself under pressure because McConnell almost immediately put her in charge of the school's sole dormitory. In Moffett's History of the State Teachers College at Radford, Virginia, 1910-1930, McConnell wrote in the third person of Moffett that, "in the judgment of the president, she was the most suitable person for this trying position, this she filled with great satisfaction to all concerned. This was the beginning of her official duties in the college."

President McConnell assigned Miss Moffett several other duties. Since she had had previous experience as a charter member of the Lee Literary Society at Harrisonburg Normal School, Moffett and two others were appointed to a committee to establish the college's first two campus organizations--the Ingles and Pocahontas Literary Societies. In addition to literary pursuits, the two societies emphasized dramatic performances, social gatherings, and debates. Moffett served as faculty adviser to the Ingles Literary Society which was named in honor of Mary Draper Ingles, famous for escaping from Indian captivity in the late 18th century. While interest in the literary societies had waned by the 1930s, the Ingles and Pocahontas names are on two of Radford University's residence halls.

Moffett also participated in the formation of the Student Government Association (1914) and the Grapurchat student newspaper (1921). The Student Government Association and the Tartan (the Grapurchat's successor) remain integral parts of campus life.

For the first several years after the college opened, Moffett taught all of the Household Arts courses (Elementary Sewing, Elementary Cooking and Household Management) which met five times a week. In 1918, the Department doubled in size with the hiring of Myrtle Burnette. Moffett was one of six founding members of the Virginia Home Economics Association and president of the organization during the years 1915-1916 and 1925-1926. During the summers of 1916 through 1920, Moffett took courses at Columbia University’s Teachers College and received a Masters degree in 1921. She received her doctorate from Columbia in 1929, writing her dissertation on "The social background and activities of teachers college students". The dissertation, later published as a book, was the first of many publications.

In 1920, the Radford Normal School was reorganized and McConnell appointed Moffett as the new Dean of Women, a year before she received her Master of Arts degree. She was the first person to hold that post at any of the Virginia institutions of higher education. She held the Dean's post until her retirement in 1962.

In the preface to Moffett's history of the school, McConnell praised Moffett for having, "an inquisitive mind, great energy, and a keen sense of the worth of historical facts." McConnell went on to say that her duties, "have so expanded in the last two decades that she [has] an intimate personal knowledge and contact with every phase of the institutional life and its development. Her association with the president and the administrative officers has given her a knowledge of the personality of the President, members of the faculty, and other officials of the institution that is absolutely unique."

McConnell's statement would hold true for at least 30 years through the administrations of Presidents Peters and Martin and several thousand students.

Moffett retired from Radford in 1962 but never relinquished her love of the institution. She died in 1969. In her will, Moffett left much of her estate in a scholarship fund originally established by her mother. Moffett wrote "I now pass the inheritance of the fruit of her labor, as manifest through me to other women that they may catch a part of the vision she had."

Return to Table of Contents »

Administrative Information

Publication Information

McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections

McConnell Library
PO Box 6881
Radford, Virginia
540-831-5692
archives@radford.edu

Restrictions to Access

An appointment for research is required. The collection is open for research. No interlibrary loan.

Accruals Note

No additional accruals are expected.

Processing Note

Processed by Chelsey Slemp and Gene Hyde, July 2010.

Return to Table of Contents »

Collection Inventory

Box 1: Maintenance and Supervision 

Folder 1: Bureau of Information Books of Inquires from President's Office, Dr. Moffett's office, and others, 1930-1931 

Folder 2: Miscellaneous staff-related documents 

Folder 3: Dining Hall and kitchens documents 

Folder 4: Ledger and documents recording food costs for 1920-1921 

Folder 5: Tea Room Financial Records 1934, 1935, 1937 

Folder 6: Tea Room Financial Records, 1938-1939 

Box 2: Maintenance and Supervision 

Folder 1: Financial records for Blue Gate Tea Room, Summer Quarters of 1935-1936 

Folder 2: Financial records for Blue Gate Tea Room and three Grapurchat photocopies pertaining to the tea room 

Box 3: Student Organizations 

Folder 1: Bank statements, canceled checks, and receipts for Pi Gamma Mu, Va. Epsilon Chapter, 1930's 

Folder 2: Bank statements, canceled checks, and checkbooks for Pi Gamma Mu, 1930's and 1940 

Folder 3: Bank statements, canceled checks, and treasurer's notebook for Pi Gamma Mu, 1930's and 1940 

Folder 4: Student Government documents, 1914-1925 

Folder 5: Student Government documents, 1920's and 1930's 

Folder 6: Student Government documents, 1920's and 1930's 

Folder 7: Student Government documents, 1940's and 1950's 

Folder 8: Student Government documents, 1971-1973 

Folder 9: Student Government documents, 1971-1973 

Folder 10: Student Government documents, 1973 

Folder 11: Student Government documents, 1973-1974 

Folder 12: Phi Kappa Phi documents, 1969-1971 

Folder 13: Student Government Association - Student Executive Council Notebook 

Folder 14: Papers inside the Student Executive Council Notebook 

Box 4: Student Organizations 

Folder 1: Radford Chapter American Federation of Art Clubs notebook and financial records 

Folder 2: Choral Club blank ledger, program guide, and financial records 

Folder 3: Letters concerning Ingles Literary Society 

Folder 4: Minutes of the Commercial Club, 1939 

Folder 5: Debate Council letters, 1929 

Folder 6: Debate Council documents, 1925-1927 

Folder 7: Debate Council and Alpha Tau Pi sorority documents, 1920's and 1930's 

Folder 8: Debate Council and Alpha Tau Pi sorority documents, 1930-1931 

Folder 9: Debate Council documents, 1929-1932 

Folder 10: Student Organization Committee documents, 1920's and 1970's 

Box 5: Student Organizations 

Folder 1: Home Economics Club, 1960's 

Folder 2: Ingles Literary Society bank folder and accompanying documents 

Folder 3: Ingles Literary Society ledger and accompanying financial records, 1939-1941 

Folder 4: Ingles Literary Society documents, 1913-1931, and 1962-1963 

Folder 5: Ingles Literary Society Secretary's book with accompanying items and documents, 1939-1940 

Folder 6: Student organizations financial records, 1920's and 1930's 

Folder 7: Student clubs and organizations documents, 1920's and 1930's 

Folder 8: Student clubs and organizations, 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's 

Folder 9: Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority song book, 1942 

Box 6: M'Ledge Moffett notebooks 

Folder 1: 1940 

Folder 2: 1941 with accompanying documents 

Folder 3: 1942 with accompanying documents 

Folder 4: 1943 with accompanying documents 

Folder 5: 1944 with accompanying documents 

Folder 6: 1945 with accompanying documents 

Folder 7: 1946, apointment book, with accompanying documents 

Folder 8: 1946 

Box 7: M'Ledge Moffett notebooks 

Folder 1: 1947, appointment book, with accompanying documents 

Folder 2: 1947 

Folder 3: 1948, appointment book, with accompanying documents 

Folder 4: 1948, with accompanying documents 

Folder 5: 1949, appointment book, with accompanying documents 

Folder 6: 1949, with accompanying document 

Folder 7: 1950, appointment books, with accompanying documents 

Folder 8: 1950, with accompanying document 

Box 8: M'Ledge Moffett notebooks 

Folder 1: 1951, appointment book 

Folder 2: 1951, with accompanying document 

Folder 3: 1952, appointment book, with bookmark 

Folder 4: 1953, appointment book 

Folder 5: 1954, appointment book, with accompanying document